Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

After hearing extensive praise for Born to Run, not only from the media, but also from my friends and family, I decided to read it. Born to Run is a cross between a memoir and research paper, recounting author Christopher McDougall's quest to find the “correct” way to run. In a casual, sometimes crude tone, McDougall discusses running and narrates his adventures from doctors' offices to remote Mexican canyons, where he meets a tribe of supposedly the best runners on Earth. In the end, McDougall and a few fellow Westerners are joined by these fabled runners in a climactic race, described as “the greatest race the world has ever seen.”

Born to Run's major flaw is its denseness. McDougall ­includes many unnecessary stories and information. Anecdotes and descriptions topple over one another, rendering the book verbose and confusing. He gets his point across: modern technologies have destroyed the art of running. But dispensable segments, not to mention unrefined writing, make Born to Run a bland read.

Although it didn't meet my expectations, I don't regret reading Born to Run. Combining personal experience and data, its format was very different from anything I've read, and, despite cumbersome passages, it was effective in teaching me about running. I don't particularly recommend or advise against reading Born to Run. It's certainly not a mind-boggler and shouldn't be at the top of your reading list, but it could be interesting to consider.